At the end of my Superman run, DC Comics and I began talking about what I might do next for them. When they first pitched me the idea of a Chinese Super-Man, I said NO. Superman is all about Truth, Justice, and the American Way. What does that mean in the context of modern China? There were so many complexities, both political and cultural. I just didn’t think I could handle it.

But then I flew down to DC Comics’ Burbank offices for a series of meetings. One was with Jim Lee, DC’s Co-Publisher and the originator of the Chinese Super-Man idea. Another was with Geoff Johns, the mastermind behind DC’s Rebirth relaunch. By the end, I began to hear a teenage Chinese Super-Man’s voice in my head. If you’re a writer, you know that when this happens, you just have to roll with it.

So I said YES.

The result is New Super-Man, a monthly series about Kong Kenan, a 17-year-old kid in Shanghai who inherits Clark Kent’s powers. The art by Viktor Bogdanovic, Richard Friend, and Hi-Fi Color is vibrant and fun. Hope you’ll check it out!

Every National Ambassador picks a platform. Mine is Reading Without Walls. I want every kid — every reader, really — to explore the world through books. Books have played a vital role in getting me outside of my comfort zone. I believe they can do the same for you.

As National Ambassador, I issue you a challenge! I challenge you to read without walls in one of three ways:

1. Read a book about a character who doesn’t look like you or live like you.

2. Read a book about a topic you don’t know much about.

3. Read a book in a format that you don’t normally read for fun. This might be a chapter book, a graphic novel, a book in verse, a picture book, or a hybrid book.

If you really want to go for the gold star, read a book that fits all three criteria!

When you finish, take a photo of you and the book (or just the book if you’re shy) and post it on Twitter or Instagram with the hashtag #ReadingWithoutWalls. You’ll inspire others to do the same!

If you are a teacher, librarian, or bookseller, you can challenge your students, patrons, and customers to read without walls, too! Check out what San Francisco’s Live Oak School did this past school year!

Read without walls and see what happens. I bet it’ll be something amazing!

]]>http://geneyang.com/the-reading-without-walls-challenge/feed3Reading Without Walls at Live Oakhttp://geneyang.com/reading-without-walls-at-live-oak
http://geneyang.com/reading-without-walls-at-live-oak#respondSat, 09 Apr 2016 16:27:02 +0000http://geneyang.com/?p=2826Melissa McAvoy, librarian at Live Oak School in San Francisco, issued the Reading Without Walls challenge to her school!

She made an awesome bulletin board promoting the initiative. You see all those little book-shaped stickers? Every one of them represents a book that was read by one of her students!

Here’s what Melissa said about the challenge: “What is so wonderful is that most of these books usually don’t circulate and the kids found that they loved them.”

Thank you so much for spreading the word about the awesomeness of books, Melissa!

More proof that librarians are THE BEST.

]]>http://geneyang.com/reading-without-walls-at-live-oak/feed0Unboxing A Package from DC Comicshttp://geneyang.com/unboxing-a-package-from-dc-comics
http://geneyang.com/unboxing-a-package-from-dc-comics#commentsTue, 26 Jan 2016 21:47:35 +0000http://geneyang.com/?p=2820When I first heard about unboxing videos I thought they sounded so stupid. I checked one out anyway. Forty unboxing videos later, I must admit that I understand the appeal.

Decided to make one of my own!

]]>http://geneyang.com/unboxing-a-package-from-dc-comics/feed6So this crazy thing happened…http://geneyang.com/so-this-crazy-thing-happened-2
http://geneyang.com/so-this-crazy-thing-happened-2#commentsSat, 23 Jan 2016 21:07:34 +0000http://geneyang.com/?p=2811On January 4, the Library of Congress, Every Child A Reader, and the Children’s Book Council appointed me the fifth National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. My wife and I flew out to Washington D.C. for a fancy inauguration ceremony. I wore a fancy suit and got a fancy medal. I gave a speech to a class of local elementary school kids.

Librarian of Congress David Mao and me. (He’s the good-looking one.)

We hung out with David Mao, the Acting Librarian of Congress; John Cole, the Librarian of Congress Emeritus; and Kate DiCamillo (Because of Winn Dixie) and Jon Scieszka (The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales), both of whom are former ambassadors.

Kate DiCamillo, Jon Scieszka, and me. For some reason, Jon’s medal is waaay heavier than Kate’s and mine.

It was a pretty amazing day. If you’re interested, you can find my speech here.

The post of National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature was created in 2008, and the whole point is to get more kids reading and kids reading more. Every ambassador has a platform. For example, Ms. DiCamillo, my immediate predecessor, chose the platform Stories Connect Us. She spoke about how books can bring communities together.

My platform is Reading Without Walls. I want kids to explore the world through books, to read outside of their comfort zones. Specifically, I want them – and you – to do one of three things:

1. Read a book with someone on the cover who doesn’t look like you or live like you. Books are a great way to get to know people who are different from us. By reading other people’s stories, we can develop insight and compassion.

2. Read a book about a topic that you find intimating. My pet project in this area is promoting books about science, technology, engineering, and math. Often, people think of stories and science as completely separate, but they’re not. Stories are a great way to learn science.

3. Read a book in a format that you’ve never tried before. If you only read books with words, give a graphic novel a try. If you only read graphic novels, try a prose novel, a novel in verse, or a hybrid (half graphic, half prose) novel.

I can’t tell you how excited and honored I am about my appointment. I can’t wait to connect with readers of all ages around the country.

The Children’s Book Council and I are also talking about how to use technology to engage readers. Nothing concrete yet. More to come, so stay tuned!

Congratulations to Dan of Pasadena, CA; Lucia of San Jose, CA; and Timothy of Murfreesboro, TN! They each won a signed copy of Superman #44!

Periodically, I run giveaways for the folks on my mailing list. Interested in the next one? Sign up for my mailing list below. I’ll even give you a free digital comic!

]]>http://geneyang.com/superman44giveaway/feed0Secret Codershttp://geneyang.com/secret-coders
http://geneyang.com/secret-coders#respondMon, 12 Oct 2015 21:54:06 +0000http://geneyang.com/?p=2695illustrated by Mike Holmes
published by First Second Books
recommended for Fifth Grade and Up

I love comic books and I love coding. For years, I taught high school computer science by day and made comic books by night. During that time, comics and coding felt like two separate worlds.

Comics and coding have finally come together for me in the form of Secret Coders, a graphic novel series that teaches coding! This is something that I’ve had in mind for a long, long time. It’s great to finally be able to get it out into the world.

And one of the best parts of this project is that I get to work with the supremely talented Mike Holmes. Mike’s stuff has a Saturday morning energy to it — once you see it, you’ll know what I mean.

Mike and I tell a story that’s a bit like Harry Potter: A group of kids find a secret school, only in our books the school teaches coding instead of magic. You know there’s a problem with Harry Potter, right? You read about all these kids becoming wizards, but when you try the same tricks at home, you don’t get to be a wizard. Secret Coders doesn’t have that problem. After reading about how our heroes become coders, you can try the same things at home and become a coder yourself!

About a month ago, I spoke at the San Jose Public Library’s Graphic Novel Contest awards ceremony. Sakura was a sponsor and one of their representatives was there. We got to talking, I told him about my mailing list giveaways, and he graciously offered to donate three pen sets for my September giveaway.

Sakura pens are the industry standard. I use them on my own comics, and pretty much every cartoonist I know uses them. A great product.

Congratulations to Jamie of Freehold, NJ; Robyn of San Jose, CA; and Tammy of Galt, CA for winning my September giveaway! Each of them will receive a pen set from Sakura!

Periodically, I run giveaways for the folks on my mailing list. Interested in the next one? Sign up for my mailing list below. I’ll even give you a free digital comic!

]]>http://geneyang.com/sakura-pen-set-giveaway-winners/feed0JUNE GIVEAWAY WINNERS!http://geneyang.com/june-giveaway-winners
http://geneyang.com/june-giveaway-winners#respondFri, 03 Jul 2015 03:43:12 +0000http://geneyang.com/?p=2608Congratulations to Leila of Washington, Dawn of Wisconsin, and Elizabeth of Alberta for winning my June giveaway! Each of them will receive a signed copy of all three of my Free Comic Book Day 2015 books: Dark Horse’s Avatar: The Last Airbender, DC Comics’ Divergence, and the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund book.

Periodically, I run giveaways for the folks on my mailing list. Interested in the next one? Sign up for my mailing list below. I’ll even give you a free digital comic!